Fog-signal.



J. DOWNS,

FOG SIGNAL.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 9, 1908.

Patented Dec. 17, 19.12.

MEN NNNWN object to provide an improved construction UNITED STATES' PATENT oEEIcE.

JOHN DOWNS, 0F LONDON; ENGLAND.

FOG-SIGNAL.

Application filed Novemher 9, 1908. Serial No. 461,772.

To all 'whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOI-IN Downs, a. subject of the King of Great Britain and Ireland, residing at London, in the county of Middlesex, England, have invented a certain new anduselui Improvement in Fog- Signals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to apparatus for operating signals on engines on railways and the like by the coacting of devicesv on the engine and on t-he track and has for its of, and arrangement of parts comprising, such means.

Signaling apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention comprises curved levers `pivoted at one end to a fixed shaft carrie-d in brackets on the engine and having their other ends free to move up and down and adapted to co-,act with a. de* vice in the track and to operate indicating means in the cab of the engine through suitable rods and levers. The device in the track for causing the indication preferably comprises a roller adapted to be respectively raised or lowered by the act-ion of lowering or raising the signal.

Referrlng now to the drawings Figure 1 is a side elevation of one 'arrangement of' signaling means constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a plan thereof. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the device on the track dra-wn to an enlarged scale. Fig. 4 is a plan thereof. Fig. :lis a. sectional. elcva-tion of-the indicatingl mechanism. Fig. 6 is a sectional plan thereof. Fig. 7 is a 'ragmental view, partly in horizontal section and partly in plan, ot the skating levers and the mechanism connecting them with the signal operating rods; Fig. S is a detail of the revolving pin with a fragment et' one ol the tubes and its actuating rod in normal position; and Fig. il is a. sectional detail of a fragment ot' one ol the. dashpots and its .screw regulated air passages.

a is a bell crank lever adapted to he operated by thn action of lowering or raising the signal. i i

l; is a bracket fixed to a sleeper and provided with two rollers c, c1 moin ted in same to levers r, r, r1.

.lever r1 :is mounted on a cross shaft 81.

roller bearings d, the spindles bein fixed and carried in flanged bushings 'e whlch are' free to move in slots in the bracket b.

f is a wedge-shaped member adapted to slide between frames. g on the bracket b, so that its inclined edges coact with the inside tianges of the bushings e and cause same to rise or Vfall as said wedge-shaped member is moved -forw'ard or backward.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 17, 1912.

L is a rod connecting the member with the bell crank lever a.

Z, Z1 and 'In are three curved levers (here-A inafter called skating levers pivoted at one end on affixed shaft n carried in bracket-s o, and having their other ends free to move up and down.

. p are eye-bolts on which the free ends of the skating levers are hung, said bolts p resting on spiral springs and provided with adjusting means.

q are links -attached at or about the centers of the. skating levers and connecting The levers r, r are mounted on cross shafts s, s2, one of which, namely the lever s2, is tubular in order that the other may pass therethrough and the O11 the cross shafts s, s2 are mounted levers u, u and on the cross shaft s1 is mounted a lever u1 connected to `the rods t, t and t1' respectively. 'lhe rods t, t operate semaphore arms and the rod t1 operates a bell as-will be hereinafter more fully described. The cross shafts s, s2 and s are carried in brackets o, o, o1 which are fixed to channel bars 'v carried on'suspension brackets w which are lixed to the locomotive.

li), E (Fig. 5) are tappet levers pivoted on a pin Q free to revolve in a boss on' a bracket l fixed in a stand pipe, and, said levers, di), E are pivotally attached to the. rods It, t.

F, l? are cylinders in which are disposed spring-pressed tappets F1, F1. The cylinders F, F are adapted to be nioved thi ough bosses in the bracket l and the tappets F-, F are adapted to strike the piston rods (l, (-l of dash-pots M, l\'l fixed to the top iange N ot the stand-pipe and having pistons ll, .l-l and screw regulated air passages T, l..

J, J are rods connecting the pistons Il, H i

with levers K K mounted on the pivots L, L of semap lore arms.

'lhe pin Q. is free to be partially revolved around inside the stand-pipe. 'lo eil'ect this partial revolution one of the tappct levers E is provided with a handle S, and to allow of such partial revolution the rods t, .t have swivel connection R,IR, with the levers E, E and a suitable aperture is provided in the stand-pipe for the passage of the handle S. This aperture is covered by a sleeve T, which is vertically slotted to receive the handle, with which it moves. By this partial revolution the semaphore arms on which the rods t, t operate are reversed. One of said rods t, t is adapted to operate in conjunction witlnthe distant signal and theA other in conjunction with the home signal and the semaphore arms are arranged to indicate onel for the distant and the other for the home signal. Consequently, when the locomotive is 'traveling backward, it 'is necessary to reverse the connection between the rods t, t and the semaphore arms.

Y is a warning bell adapted to be operated through the central skating lever m through tho rod t1.

U is a series of grooves in the rod t* adapted to ccact with a tappet Vconnected to or integral'with a bell hammer W controlled by a spring' X.

At both home and distant signals there is arranged in the track a bracket I1 having two rollers, namely a roller c1 positioned in the center of the track in line with the skating lever m, and also a roller c. The roller c is arranged in one bracket. b on one side of the center for the distant signal, and in another' bracket o, on the other side for the home signal and in both cases in vline with one of the skating levers Z or 1;

The center roller e" always remains in fixed osition and is used for ringing the warning ell in the cab, while the other rollers are.

raised by the advance of a wedge shaped slide as hereinafter explained.

In use as the locomotive passes over a bracket b the skating lever m coacting with the roller c1 will be moved on its pivot and operating through its link (l lever r1, cross shaft a1 and lever u1, will raise the rod t. This raising of the rod t will cause the bell to be struck by the hammer lV with a series of blows due to the action of the tappet V and grooves U and the spring X, and these blows will be repeated as the rod t1, descends after the skating lever leaves the roller c1.

The roller c adapted to be raised by the wedge-shaped member f when the signal is lowered. One of the skating levers Z, Z1 will coact with the roller c, if raised, acording whether said roller corresponds to the home or distant signal. `This skating lever will be moved on its pivot. and operatmg through its link g, lever r, cross shaft s or s2 and lever u, will raise its-rod t. The 'raising of the rod t will cause the tappet lever E to strike the cylinder F and raise the piston rod G and piston Il in the dashvpot M, drawing in air through the. screw regulated air passage I, and lowering the semaphore arm through the medium of the rod J and lever K. Similarly if the other skating lever coacts with a roller c the other semaphore arm will be lowered through the other rod t.

In use the attention of the. engine driver is attracted by the striking of the bell and he will be able to ascertain from a glance at the semaphore arms the position of the signal to which his attention is called. By mez ns of the dash-'pot arrangement the semaphore arm, i'l2 moved, is held in its position for a short time, after which itreturns to its normal or raised position as the piston H falls 4under the action of: gravity against the slow escape oi" air from the dashpot M.

What l claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the-United States is zl. In signaling apparat-us, the combination with an engine having an indicator an'd an alarm signal, of a pair of yielding tripping levers extending down to the track and operatively connected with the indicator and alarm signal, respectively, a lixed device in the track in position to be engaged by the lever connected with the alarm signal, and a movable device in the track in position, when raised, to be engaged by the lever connected with the indicator.

2. ln signaling apparatus, the combination with an engine having an alarm signal and a pair of semaphore arms, of three skating. levers extending down to the track, a vertical rod connected with y each skating lever, two of said rods being'arranged to operate said semaphore arms, respectively, and the third rod being arranged to operate said alarm signal, and devices arranged in the track in line with said skating levers, resl'iectively, the device in line with the lever for ol'ierating the alarm signal being in fixed posit-ion, and the devices in line with the levers operating the semaphore arms being movable.

v3. In signaling apparatus, the combination with an engine having a pair of semaphore arms and a pair of skating levers eX- tending down to the track, of a pair of vertical rods connected with the skating levers, respectively, and adapted to operate the semaphore arms, and a pair of movable devices arranged in the track in ,line with said skating levers,respectively, the upper ends of said rods' being adapted to be partially revolved, so as to bring either rod into operative relation with either semaphore arm.

4. In signaling apparat-us, the combination with an engine having a pair of semaphorel arms, of a pair of skating levers eX- be partially revolved, so as to bring either tending down to the track, a pair of vertical rod into position to engage either dash-pot. 10 rods connected With said skating levers re- In testimony whereof I aflix my signature spectively, dash-pot mechanism arranged in in presence of-two Witnesses.

position to be engaged by said rods, and JOHN DOWNS. means operatively oonneting each dash-pot Witnesses: with one of the semaphore arms, the upper A. J. MADDEN, ends of said Vertical rods being adapted to S. LORD. 

